29 degrees Heavy Snow Wind 25mph N
6:15am CDT 8:08pm CDT
Well, here we go again!
We are under another Winter Storm Warning.
It is snowing heavily and it is being driven by a strong north wind. This is January weather, not April.
I cannot even begin to imagine what the loons are thinking.
Over the weekend, I was south of The Cities [that is our name for Minneapolis and St Paul for those of you from other parts of the world]. There a few lakes had some open water around the edges of the lakes and some of the smaller ponds were almost ice free.
Here, farther north, the ice on the lake is still solid up to the shore. It is trying to open up. But it is not making much progress so far. The continued cold and snow has keep the lake from thawing.
Last Friday, when there was a prediction of up to 6 inches of snow, we actually got over 10 inches here! Just 10 miles in one direction from here they got 15 inches. Ten miles in the opposite direction, they only had about 6 inches. So it varied widely depending on where you were.
There was even heavy thunder with it for a while! What is known as "thunder snow". That is basically a heavy spring thunderstorm only it is cold enough that it is snow rather than rain.
They are predicting the possibility of thunder snow again tonight, although I have not heard anything yet. But it has been snowing heavily for several hours already with more to come.
The winter storm warning from the National Weather Service is saying up to 9 inches of snow tonight for here at the lake.
That will not help to thaw the ice on the lake.
What may help though is that there are predictions of 60 degrees by this weekend.
That is the normal temperature for this time of year. But this year it is going to feel absolutely balmy!
If we get a few days like that, things will change rapidly. But it still will take a little while to melt all the ice that is still on the lake.
It is encouraging to hear reports of loons in the area.
They are as anxious as we are to return to their favorite lakes.
But until then, once again we can just wait and watch.
And enjoy the winter wonderland that we have been given with this snow which paints every pine tree with picture postcard snow. The bright red cardinal sitting in the deep green pine tree with the fresh white snow hanging on its branches, which will greet us in the morning, would make a perfect Christmas card for later this year.
Copyright 2013 Larry R. Backlund